The lifts in question are a product made by Altitude Shoes. They’re like an insole – the type you use if you’ve got legs of different lengths or funny shaped feet. You slip them inside your shoe and the provide an extra 2.5 inches of height, something which many petite men are glad of.

The comments of said video are mostly men tagging their friends, making jokes about their size and teasing each other about their heights.

You can see why. A short man is an easy target, and a common target too. By being short, a man has apparently betrayed his responsibility to be hyper masculine and therefore must be punished by being laughed at.

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Despite being aware of the cruel way in which shorter men are treated, I was taken aback by the casual way in which men were tagging each other on Facebook, publicly teasing each other about their heights.

I’m not saying that women are better friends to each other than men, they certainly have their own pitfalls, but I can’t help thinking it would be extremely unlikely to see women tagging each other in a video about waist trainer on the instruction ‘tag a fat mate who needs one of these.’

A man’s height is a sensitive issue, make no mistake about it. It’s commonly reported that women lie about their age and weight on dating sites, while men lie about their height and salary.

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Why?

Because they’re the things that we’ve been taught are important about ourselves. Women are supposed to be ornamental and youthful. Men are supposed to be large and powerful.

I don’t believe that men are valued for their looks to the same extent that women are, so calling a man short doesn’t pack the same punch that calling a woman fat does, but they’re certainly in the same ball park. And while we’ve moved away from doing that to women – increasingly calling out fat shaming, short shaming seems to continue to flourish.

It’s not just men who tease each other about diminutive height, though. Women might not take the piss so much, but I’ve lost count of the number of women I’ve heard talking about how they would never even consider dating a short guy.

We discussed last week whether it’s okay to ask a man’s height on Tinder for this exact reason.

Of course everyone is entitled to their own preferences when it comes to body types. No woman should be obliged to date a short guy just because he’s kind or sweet. It’s natural to have a physical preference in the people who you date.

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But if you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying ‘I’d never date a black guy’ or ‘I’d never date a bisexual guy’, is it really so different to say ‘I’d never date a short guy’?

Basically, it’s fine to have a physical preference, what’s not fine is to be mean about it.

Shortness is not a failing, but it’s often treated as one.

As humans we’re drawn to the idea of self improvement. Well cut suits, make up, high heels, artfully cultivated stubble: they’re all about making us look and feel more attractive, and we shouldn’t feel ashamed of that.

Whether a bloke wants to get some shoe lifts for a special occasion, or wear them every single day, it’s his prerogative.

Mocking a man, whether it’s a friend or a partner, who wants to do something harmless to alleviate an insecurity makes you about as nice as the men who comment on make-up tutorials saying ‘this is why you have to take her swimming on a first date.’